Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Katie.

My dearest Katie...You are amazing to me!

Who is Katie, you may ask?  (No, that isn't her in the pic.  However, this girl could pass for her sister!)

Katie is a Spin class instructor who I had previously taken for granted, but will NOT make the mistake of underappreciating again!

I drug my fat butt into my first Spin class at LA Fitness back in December. 

Good ol' Katie was the instructor, and she was hardcore!  I made it through the class, but got QUITE the workout! At one point, I had to backoff for a second or I thought FOR SURE I would've passed out!

And this is coming from someone who runs marathons! 

I hadn't taken a spin class before this in years!  And it was at the local YMCA where I used to live, with a bunch of really old people...so the class naturally wasn't that difficult.

But Katie!  You rocked my world!

She isn't the friendliest person, and hardly ever smiles, but she will make you work off that Chipotle burrito you had for lunch! 

When you walk into her class, you don't get warm fuzzies and a kind hello.  You instantly feel a "Get on a bike and let's go!" attitude.

At first, this was a little offputting to me.

I even told my buddy Matt (who also spins at my gym) that I didn't really like Katie, and wanted to try out some of the other instructors.

However, it seemed like everytime I was able to attend a spin class, she was the instructor.  I guess I was stuck with her.

But last Thursday night, I was at the gym doing a little weight-training.  Then, when I was about to start doing some cardio, I looked into the Spin studio and saw some people getting ready for a class.

Hmmm...weird.  My gym never had a Thursday night spin class.  This must be new. And look, there is a different instructor!

Awesome!  So, I walked into the studio, plopped onto a bike and was ready to go!

Ok, the new instructor looked like she was in her 40s, and was the stereotypical workout instructor from the 80s, with the track jacket and the headband (think Sue Sylvester from Glee!)

But here's where the class went wrong:  With Katie I am used to starting the resistance on my bike around gear 7, and work up to gear 20.  This lady wanted us to start off at 1 and we never got over gear 12!

Oh, I get it...this must be a beginner class that I stumbled into.

That's fine. I'll get a small workout.  Well...then about 10 minutes in, I hadn't even worked up the smallest bead of sweat yet, and she stopped on her bike, frantically was toweling off and drinking ferociously from her water bottle.

I guess the class was too difficult for her.

I looked around to make sure I wasn't the only one who noticed, and everyone else also looked befuddled, like they were in the wrong class!

Here's another funny...This lady talked so fast!  I mean REALLY fast, that I could hardly understand anything she was saying, or what we were doing next.  And she was from the 'old school fitness' era where the instructor felt like she had to talk through every second of the entire class:  "Ok, breathe through your nose, inhale, don't stiffen your knees, go hard, you can do it, don't forget to exhale, a little farther now, you got it, let your body speak to you, drink water if you need it, you can do it..."

Hey lady, shut the f*ck up for a moment, would you?

And she would say, "Ok, we are going to sprint this out for 20 seconds.  Ready? Go," and then would proceed to count it down.  EXCEPT, that 20 seconds would turn into about 6 seconds.  "20....10-9-8-you got it....3-2-1...ok, back to flat road..."

Huh?  I just got up to maximum sprinting speed.  Whatever...

At the end of the class, I looked down at the stats on the bike, and I ended up burning under 400 calories, in an hour!  Usually, in Katie's class I burn close to 700!

So Katie, I am sorry that I ever doubted you!  Having gone back to your class yesterday, and being able to challenge myself like I enjoy, was excellent!  Thank you!

It is SO worth it to almost kill myself in your class.

You never have to smile at me.  You never even have to say hello or acknowledge that I'm there.  Just keep working me hard, and I will continue to love you. 

28 comments:

  1. "Hey lady, shut the f*ck up for a moment, would you?"

    HAHA! I just pictured you saying this. Made me laugh out loud!

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  2. I need to come take a class with you. I feel like I don't get as good of a workout as I really want to. I have to meet this Katie girl.

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  3. Sue from Glee is amazing! How dare you diss her! Kidding, glad to see that you are working out hard.

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  4. Does that mean you are doing Chipotle for lunch today? :)

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  5. The girl in the photo is ripped! I would never be able to look like that, and if Katie does look like that, then I would be terrified!

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  6. You have to tell me how you like working out at LA Fitness. I was thinking about checking it out. Can you blog about it? LOL!

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  7. Oh Paul I love it!! See you at spin class at noon tomorrow????

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  8. Matt! I know that's you, Anonymous! :) I love that you keep trying to get me to go with you at noon, but silly, I don't have enough time! You should come to an evening class with me!

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  9. Brian, I still enjoy LA Fit. Hmmm...maybe I WILL blog about it!

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  10. this almost makes me want to hope on a bike and get sweating.............ALMOST.

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  11. I would be in ecstasy (sp?) if I was in a class taught by Sue Sylvester! I bet she would be randomly spitting out one-liners that would keep you laughing all class long!

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  12. LOL way to funny. I think I would have to start out with the chatty instructor, the other one would scare me a bit;)

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  13. OMG... it's so amazing that you posted about this today because I'm going to attend my first spin class in over a year today. I'm sure I will have chest pains and be ready to pass out but I will push pass the pain and tell you about it tomorrow (or maybe when I get home from the gym)

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  14. D, please let me know how it goes! I am sure you will do great. Just remember, that if you start to feel like it's too hard, just back off the resistance a bit. You are gonna ROCK this! :)

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  15. Paulie! You don't do anything half-assed, do ya? That's what i love about you, pal!

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  16. Oh yes, who could forget the YMCA in beautiful Rockford? Never took a spin class there, but by the look of the rest of their staff, I am guessing it wasn't too difficult.

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  17. Once again, funny blog! I can picture this older instructor. I love how you said she was practically dying while you all had barely even broken a sweat. that's great!

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  18. I miss you buddy! I feel like I haven't seen you in months. Maybe its because you're always in spin class! Hope all is well and I want to see you soon.

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  19. Paul, Katie may not want to be your best friend, but she was there to push you and keep you going in class. Glad you found her value. Burn, burn, burn!

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  20. You are a Masochist with your body!

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  21. Don't work yourself too hard. You have to save some energy for the Sham Shuffle in a couple weeks.

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  22. I've never tried a spin class. I've always wanted to, so one day I'll have to give it a try.

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  23. Spin classes are awesome...once you get used to them. The first few times they will kick your butt. I threw up after my first one :)'

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  24. That is hysterical - I want to see Sue Sylvester from Glee as a spin instructor!

    Spin classes are impressive --- the first time I took one, walked in pretty cocky thinking I am a marathon runner, I am in good shape, I can do this, blah, blah, blah --- and it totally kicked my ass. I got better over time, still remember how humbling that first one was!

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  25. There is a similar instructor at my gym, no smile no small talk just make you work really hard! We all need a Katie in our gym I think!

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  26. Ha!! That's exactly what a good coach or teacher should be like! HARSH but soing their job to the max!

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  27. i think i burned calories reading it...lol.

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